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Alright everyone, we are going to stay here as late as we have to and practice these fundamentals as many times as it takes until we get it right. Three words, nine syllables total, contain the secret to drama free mortgage approval: documents, documents, documents. I will be more than happy to help you secure mortgage financing and navigate your way to the closing, but don’t just tell me how much you make and how big your bank account is. Show me.

I want your paystubs and I want your W2s, I want your tax returns, the whole thing, every schedule, every statement, everything, all of it. I want your bank statements, every page, including that last one that sometimes says “This Page Intentionally Left Blank.” I want them up front when you apply and as soon as a new one is arrives in the mail, send it to me, I want that one too! When you get your next paystub, send it to me, and the one after that, and I want you to keep sending them to me until I say stop.

If we request a letter explaining something that is on your credit report or your employment history or anything else, ask me for whatever help you need writing it, but do it the day I ask you to, next day at the latest. Please.

When you make a deposit or transfer money from one account to another, get new statements or account activity reports and any other docs that show the transfer and send them to me. If you’re not sure what to get and send, ask, I/we’ll be happy to help you get the right pieces of paper necessary to paper trail your funds travelling through your financial universe.

If you think that some details of your financial profile need not be disclosed because they are not directly related to getting your mortgage approved, stop thinking and scan, e-mail or fax that piece of paper to me, we need it. I may not always be able to explain why we need it but we do.

Remember, now that QM is Sherriff, as long as we construct QM engineered loans, we won’t have to buy any back, even if a loan defaults. So, the test to determine whether a document is relevant to your loan approval is simple; yes it is, send it to me.

Getting your mortgage approved and closed is a document chase, be pre-emptive, if you think maybe we might need that piece of paper, we do, send it to us. Let the QM (Qualified Mortgage) keepers decide what is necessary and what is not. You are only in the mortgage approval process barrel for 30 maybe 45 days, play nice be helpful, send us everything we ask you to send us, we will both be happy.